Tundun Biri drone strike: Ummah Movement demands inquiry, compensation for victims
*Photo: File picture of a drone strike *
The Ummah Movement, with headquarters at the National Islamic Centre (NIC), Dogarawa, Zaria, has commiserated with the victims of the drone strike by the Army on celebrants of Maulud at Tudun Biri village, Igabi Local Government, Kaduna state, on Sunday 3rd December, 2023.
It also called for inquiry into the strike and demanded compensation for victims of the incident which the Army claimed was accidental and a case of mistaken identity.
Prof. Muhammad Babangida National Amir of the Muslim group said in a press statement on Friday 8th December 2023 that “We pray for Allah to have mercy on the souls of the deceased. We condemn in the strongest possible terms the series of reckless decisions that culminated in this inexplicable loss of lives of innocent victims.
“We call on the Federal and Government to institute a full judicial inquiry into the circumstances that led to this latest disastrous drone attack: who supplied what intelligence? Why was the absence of clues that clearly showed the crowd was NOT bandits ignored in assessing the ‘intelligence’? Who ignored the Airforce advice against the attack? Who gave the final order to drop not just the first bomb but a second one that killed the hundreds of first responders?
“Both the FG and Kaduna state government must commit to a long term plan to help families recover, pay compensation and look after orphans created. Early in February this year, the airforce in a drone attack also murdered over 40 Fulani pastoralists at Rukubi village in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State. That Tudun Biri bombing was the fourth such recent incident makes it imperative that it must stop and those responsible must answer to the law. There has been 15 such incidents between 2014 to 2023.
“Punishing the guilty and paying reasonable restitution to the victims will break the cycle of violence. We pray to Allah to touch the heart of the decision making bodies in the country to hold to account both the intelligence chiefs and the army commanders who have made it a habit to waste the lives of innocent citizens, because they know that no matter their recklessness, nobody will hold them to account. This impunity must stop.”
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